A Tale of Two Cruises

[CTBob]

Bob, you mentioned the lunch and dinner drink package....it does not seem to be available any longer? Is it a YC thing or did they just discontinue it without telling us??

That was a promotion when we booked our cruise out of the Yacht Club. Drinks are always free in the Yacht Club. I don't know if the package is still available. Bob

[helenb]

Thanks for the comparative review, Bob! I'm especially glad to hear about the trivia. That's one of the things my husband and I love to do on cruises, and we were worried that with the multiple languages of the MSC passenger base it wouldn't be hosted. I'm happy to know that this is not the case.

[CTBob]

Food is subjective! The first week we ate breakfast in the buffet, both on deck 8 and deck 16. I hardly ever eat breakfast at home so don't go by my experience. I usually had scrambled eggs and two sausages with a glass or two of orange juice. I actually liked the orange juice, whatever it was. My wife had the fruit that she loves, eggs over easy, toast and tried to find crisp bacon. That turned out to be difficult. We also tried the main dining room and had decent service and food. The eggs benedict wasn't great. One of our friends was on a quest to find waffles, I think he failed. For Dinner we ate early in the Ipanema Dining Room and were assigned a table. As luck would have it we had Andre as our waiter. We tried to order wine with our package and he said our cards didn't indicate that. He asked his supervisor who said our cards didn't allow that. He asked his supervisor etc, etc. and finally they brought us wine. We never had another problem. Andre and his assistant Stewart were awesome. They never mixed up our orders and had the wine ready for us every evening we ate there. And I should mention that one of our friends always kept changing their orders and Andre always got it right. Since we had the Trio package we only ate there 4 nights and except for the duck (It was sent back) most of the meals were good (I didn't like their French Onion soup). Can't say much about desserts as I always had the sorbet. I tried to set up our first meal of the Trio package at Butcher's Cut knowing that the first night in the dining room is almost always a disaster but was told it was not possible. Later I called 6100 and they said yes so we went there the first night. There was hardly anyone there due to being told it was not possible and so the waiters were all over us. They even entertained us with magic tricks! The food was very good and we had an entertaining night. Ocean Cay was my least favorite due to the room being small and noisy. It was decorated beautifully. The Sea Bass was OK but kind of bland. My favorite was the Asian restaurant where the food and service was excellent and the decor was inviting and relaxing.

Yacht Club: We ate all of our breakfasts and dinners in the dining room (Crisp Bacon was available) and tried to eat lunch at the grill but the weather often stopped us. The food was excellent as was the service. We were lucky to have a waiter recommended by another CCer, not everyone had as good an experience. One couple went out of the Yacht Club to eat and I didn't understand that at all. Our waiters recommendations were always spot on and more than once he shook his head "No" when I tried to order something. The cut of beef on the everyday menu was always excellent as was their French Onion soup. Our dinners took over two hours but we enjoyed every minute of it. Bob

 

ps - In Cozumel we took a private food tour. We met our guide, Gerry at the Mega mart you could see from the ship. He told us that the prople who don't leave the first block miss out on a great experience and he assured us over and over that the area was safe. He had a Taxi waiting for us that took us to 5 different places to eat and experience the produce, meats and fish available. The highlight of the tour was a fish dinner at Pescaderia San Carlos. If you saw the documentary on "Mighty Ships" it is the restaurant that Captain Scala ate at with the Pilot from Cozumel. I will simply say that it was the best fish I have ever had!

Edited January 23, 2018 by CTBob

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Great review CT Bob! Thanks for taking the time to post.

[CTBob]

Fellow cruisers: It definitely was an international passenger base. We left a little late as we were waiting for a plane that was late coming from Europe. We met nice people from all over the world. A nice couple from Austria who spoke a little English to go with my Bitte Duetsch. A young man who was a lawyer from Argentina whose girlfriend was sick in their cabin, a couple from the U.K. who beat our pants off at trivia, a group of young people from Germany, one of whom spoke perfect English and many others. All I had to do was say "Hi, I'm Bob. Where are you from?" and we went from there.

Yacht Club: I had heard that people in the Yacht Club were not very friendly but I found that far from true. The first night in the lounge the six of us were having a drink when a couple sat down and said "Hi, can we join you" and we were friends for the rest of the cruise. We met people from New Zealand, Germany, Spain and Italy and they were all friendly. We even met a great couple from Brooklyn, NY. That's what I love about cruising, we're all there to have a good time. I do admit that there were people who stayed in and had their meals brought to them and if that's what they want then the Yacht Club is the place to be. BTW the CCers that we met on both weeks were wonderful. MSC put on an excellent Meet & Mingle and we had awesome cabin crawls visiting almost every type of cabin including the Aurea Suite on deck 9 with the larger balcony, a Miami Condo, an Aurea suite with whirlpool, and all three types of Yacht Club suites, an inside, deluxe balcony and royal suites. My wife was sick one day and one our CCers who is a nurse talked to her about it and made her feel a lot better. He checked on her later too and she was fine. Bob

[NotATaylor]

Thanks CTBob -- this is a great review. I realize that food is subjective, but I'm wondering, if you were only booked in the YC, would you think it was worth it to purchase a specialty dining package or would it be unnecessary given the food options in the YC?

[suzyed]

Thanks for the comparative review, Bob! I'm especially glad to hear about the trivia. That's one of the things my husband and I love to do on cruises, and we were worried that with the multiple languages of the MSC passenger base it wouldn't be hosted. I'm happy to know that this is not the case.

Oh it's hosted....in several languages if need be! Bingo is a real hoot! Every number is read in 5 languages!! It takes almost an hour to play one game of full card!!

 

For the Europeans....do you play Bingo where you are from? On the Divina it seemed like most people didn't know how to play!

[suzyed]

Food is subjective! The first week we ate breakfast in the buffet, both on deck 8 and deck 16. I hardly ever eat breakfast at home so don't go by my experience. I usually had scrambled eggs and two sausages with a glass or two of orange juice. I actually liked the orange juice, whatever it was. My wife had the fruit that she loves, eggs over easy, toast and tried to find crisp bacon. That turned out to be difficult. We also tried the main dining room and had decent service and food. The eggs benedict wasn't great. One of our friends was on a quest to find waffles, I think he failed. For Dinner we ate early in the Ipanema Dining Room and were assigned a table. As luck would have it we had Andre as our waiter. We tried to order wine with our package and he said our cards didn't indicate that. He asked his supervisor who said our cards didn't allow that. He asked his supervisor etc, etc. and finally they brought us wine. We never had another problem. Andre and his assistant Stewart were awesome. They never mixed up our orders and had the wine ready for us every evening we ate there. And I should mention that one of our friends always kept changing their orders and Andre always got it right. Since we had the Trio package we only ate there 4 nights and except for the duck (It was sent back) most of the meals were good (I didn't like their French Onion soup). Can't say much about desserts as I always had the sorbet. I tried to set up our first meal of the Trio package at Butcher's Cut knowing that the first night in the dining room is almost always a disaster but was told it was not possible. Later I called 6100 and they said yes so we went there the first night. There was hardly anyone there due to being told it was not possible and so the waiters were all over us. They even entertained us with magic tricks! The food was very good and we had an entertaining night. Ocean Cay was my least favorite due to the room being small and noisy. It was decorated beautifully. The Sea Bass was OK but kind of bland. My favorite was the Asian restaurant where the food and service was excellent and the decor was inviting and relaxing.

Yacht Club: We ate all of our breakfasts and dinners in the dining room (Crisp Bacon was available) and tried to eat lunch at the grill but the weather often stopped us. The food was excellent as was the service. We were lucky to have a waiter recommended by another CCer, not everyone had as good an experience. One couple went out of the Yacht Club to eat and I didn't understand that at all. Our waiters recommendations were always spot on and more than once he shook his head "No" when I tried to order something. The cut of beef on the everyday menu was always excellent as was their French Onion soup. Our dinners took over two hours but we enjoyed every minute of it. Bob

 

ps - In Cozumel we took a private food tour. We met our guide, Gerry at the Mega mart you could see from the ship. He told us that the prople who don't leave the first block miss out on a great experience and he assured us over and over that the area was safe. He had a Taxi waiting for us that took us to 5 different places to eat and experience the produce, meats and fish available. The highlight of the tour was a fish dinner at Pescaderia San Carlos. If you saw the documentary on "Mighty Ships" it is the restaurant that Captain Scala ate at with the Pilot from Cozumel. I will simply say that it was the best fish I have ever had!

Where did you dock in Cozumel?

[Cuervosar]

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[SandyBeach3044]

Thanks Bob this is making me feel a lot better about our up coming cruise :)

[CTBob]

Thanks CTBob -- this is a great review. I realize that food is subjective, but I'm wondering, if you were only booked in the YC, would you think it was worth it to purchase a specialty dining package or would it be unnecessary given the food options in the YC?

I think it was fun but it was probably not worth it if in the Yacht Club. However you might want to visit at least one of them, depending on your taste. Bob

 

ps - I think you can visit them for lunch as well. That might be more worth it.

[CTBob]

Paragraphshowdotheywork?

I already apologized in advance. Sorry, once again! Bob

[CTBob]

Where did you dock in Cozumel?

Right in town. I think it is Punta Langosta. It took us two tries to get in. A Regent ship gave up and didn't dock. Bob

[Freespir8]

Love reading your review! Thank you for taking the time to tell us your experience!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SNJCruisers]

Bob, you mentioned the lunch and dinner drink package....it does not seem to be available any longer? Is it a YC thing or did they just discontinue it without telling us??

 

That was a promotion when we booked our cruise out of the Yacht Club. Drinks are always free in the Yacht Club. I don't know if the package is still available. Bob

Bob....Thanks for the excellent review so far. Wasn't the meal time drink package a promotion that was tied in with your Fantastica cabin from your first week? Obviously staying in the Yacht Club during week two gave you the deluxe drinks package all over the ship since that was an added benefit that started back on April 1, 2017.

[Mellylucy]

Awesome review. Thank you Bob!

[CruiseIreland]

I'm really enjoying your review Bob. Thank you for going to the trouble. Ken

[relaxatsea]

Hi Bob,

 

We are enjoying this great review. It was so nice to meet you and Stephanie during Week 1 of your two cruises. We loved your positive attitude and happy approach to life. Thanks again for helping us all get to know each other pre-cruise, and for the fun cabin crawl.

 

Big hug from Barbara and Orlando

[CTBob]

Bob....Thanks for the excellent review so far. Wasn't the meal time drink package a promotion that was tied in with your Fantastica cabin from your first week? Obviously staying in the Yacht Club during week two gave you the deluxe drinks package all over the ship since that was an added benefit that started back on April 1, 2017.

Yes, that's it exactly. I don't know if they will ever offer that package again with the Fantastica experience. If you like good wine then it's not for you. One of our friends tried many times to get a substitute for the red and failed. We did get a riesling as a substitute for the chardonnay after a couple of tries. And the beer was only Heineken draft but you could have as many as you wanted. Same for the wine, they just opened the bottle and left it on the table until we finished it and then brought another. (There were six of us!)

 

As for the Yacht Club package, it worked without a problem throughout the ship. They even used premium liquors in some of the cocktails. I had a "Gold Rush" that was made with Woodford Reserve bourbon.

[sidari]

Hi Bob ... Did you find the YC Inside a decent size ? was it slightly longer than the others as you had thought pre cruise ?

[DCGuy64]

Great review, Bob! You put tons of time into writing it and I really appreciate it, especially all of the detail. It’s interesting to me to hear about the wine and beer selection that’s included with the Fantastica experience. That’s what we will have, as well. Thank you again!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CTBob]

Let me try and finish this up: I'll start by saying that I have never had a bad cruise, but I know that I've been lucky. If my toilet didn't work for days or I got food poisoning or I couldn't sleep because of the noise, etc., etc. then I would tell you so. Has the quality of food dropped since my first cruise, definitely- but it still is usually OK for me. I was a teacher and don't have a lot of retirement money to spend so I can't go on Regent or any of the high priced cruise lines so I go when and where it fits my budget. Right now that seems to be on MSC. Was everything perfect - No Way! However, I would go back again in a minute. I talked to many people on this cruise and several said they would never cruise MSC again. And then there were the two young fathers playing with their children at the water park who loved it. And the young adults dancing the night away in the Haven Lounge who said they were having a ball. Even some of the not-so-young were they enjoying themselves. I heard a story (Second hand) that someone on a B2B hated it so much they cancelled their second week. It's not for everyone.

 

Return to Real Life: I did disembark in Miami from the Divina when I was not in the Yacht Club and that went fairly well, but this was amazing. They stated that we had to be out of our cabins by 8 AM so we decided to meet at breakfast at 6:30 AM. When we arrived at 6:30 AM was the first time all week that all 4 of our friends were already at our table (I hate to be late). Had my usual Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast and decided to clear out of our cabins around 7:15 AM AM and sit in the lounge until they called us. To go back to our cabins we had to pass the concierge area and people were already being taken off by a butler. We grabbed our bags and followed the next butler down to the gangway. We passed many people waiting in the halls and stopped in a jam of others from the Yacht Club very close to the gangway. In about ten minutes we started to disembark and it went very quickly even though my wife tried to leave with her old cruise card. We found a porter and our bags and were quickly in line for customs. Unfortunately one couple had difficulty with something and it held us up about 5 minutes. Before I knew it we were at the curb. My wife stayed with the bags while I went and got the car. After finding my way out of the garage (No signs for the exit until you are almost out) and paying for the two weeks, I worked my way back to the pier and retrieved my wife and luggage and was out and on I-95 in about 30 minutes from leaving the ship. A better way I found out was to have the porter take your bags to the garage (For another $10) and then you load up there and just leave.

 

Sorry for the stream of consciousness writing but I have a million things to do at home and need to get to them (Actually I am heading to church this morning to fix a leaky toilet). I will be glad to answer any questions.

 

And let me thank all those who write on this Board (Especially sidari, who sent me construction photos for my website) and gave wonderful information to prepare me for this cruise. Bob

[CTBob]

Hi Bob ... Did you find the YC Inside a decent size ? was it slightly longer than the others as you had thought pre cruise ?

Yes Dave, there was enough room for me to leave my suitcase on the floor along the wall (Although I really didn't need to). We visited a square inside cabin that felt huge on our Cabin Crawl (Thanks Jesse and Brenda). The only thing bad was there was only one chair. I'm glad we spent almost no time in the cabin as the lounge was so inviting. The outside seating in front of the lounge would have been my favorite place if the weather wasn't so bad. Oh, and I never even turned on the TV. Bob

[CTBob]

Great review, Bob! You put tons of time into writing it and I really appreciate it, especially all of the detail. It’s interesting to me to hear about the wine and beer selection that’s included with the Fantastica experience. That’s what we will have, as well. Thank you again!

 

 

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If you don't get the answer you want, just keep asking politely and they usually come around. BTW we had the description of our package in writing and it should also be on your MSC for ME app and we would show that to the server if there was a question. Hopefully they will be fully aware of it when you sail. Bob

[Beamafar]

Paragraphshowdotheywork?

 

What part of the following didn't you get? (From post #17 on this thread):

 

By now you have probably figured out that I was not an author but was a professor of mathematics so please excuse my writing style (If it is a style). Bob